End of an Era
by Feleox
Summary: Natsu doesn't meet Makarov the day the dragons disappeared, but instead roams the forests in order to keep searching for Igneel. He meets another boy while on this journey, only to find out that he can use the same magic as he does. Rated M just in case. Pairings have been thought of, but not in set in stone. Possible lemons if there is a high demand.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys! I'm trying something new by publishing a story that I thought of while on vacation. It's my first one so I don't thing it's going to be that great, but I'll try my best. In this story, Natsu doesn't meet Makarov straight off the bat and travels around to search for him. I'm trying my best to get information from the anime and manga with the manga being the main source of inspiration due to it being easier for me to pull from.**

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Natsu has spent weeks searching for Igneel, which could have felt like an eternity to him. He was roaming in what could be his 4th forest in order to find his adoptive father. "Igneel... where are you?" asked the young dragon slayer. As the day started to turn darker, Natsu noticed that he was hungry and caught the scent of a nearby fire roasting some meat. _"I wonder if they would they share their food."_

. Once he neared the camp, the dragon slayer happened to be seen by the boy who was roasting food. "Who are you? You seem like you're lost." asked the mysterious boy. "My name is Natsu Dragneel! I am the son of the mighty dragon, Igneel!" answered the pinkette.

The boy had an expression of awe. "You were raised by a dragon? That means you must be really strong!" Natsu having the compliment go to his head. "You bet I am! I strong enough to beat him also!" The boy seemed intrigued at this statement and asked. "Do you want to prove that?" The dragon slayer glowed in excitement, "You bet, just don't complain later when you're sore!"

Both of the young boys got in a ready stance. Natsu, being him, was the first to charge. " **Fire Dragon's Iron Fist** " Natsu's hand was coated in flames. His fist was caught by the boy's open palm, "Woah, that's a powerful spell, Natsu! I'm also going to use it." " **Fire Dragon's Iron Fist** " The boy's fist had started to be covered in the same fire, catching Natsu off guard. The boy fortunately pulled his punch as to not hurt the dragon slayer. The punch connected with Natsu's stomach as then he was sent flying back a few feet. He stood up like he had not been hurt at all, which was contrary to his appearance.

Natsu was in shock that the boy was able to use the same magic as him that he didn't notice the pain. "Natsu, I thought we were fighting? Why are you staring at me like that?" The pinkette still looking at the boy, "Wait, are you also a dragon slayer!? How are you able to use the same spell as me? Who was your dragon? Did he know Igneel?" "Well, I'm not _exactly_ -" The boy was about to answer, but the sound of Natsu's stomach interrupted him." "Well it seems that you are hungry, and the food seems about done. Come eat with me!"

"Thanks! Oh, I forgot to ask for your name." "No problem, and my name is Ragna Alberona." Natsu had started to notice Ragna's features as he started to bite down on what could be a wild animal. He had black hair that was swept up and to the side, and had brown eyes that can be compared to the hair of a certain future drunkard from Fairy Tail. His jaw seemed to be as define as it could be on a 14 year old. Ragna was wearing a gray t-shirt with camo-patterned shorts which stopped just below his knee.

"So why are you wandering around a forest when you have a dragon as a dad?" Natsu swallowed his food as his mood suddenly dropped from cheerful to sullen. "I...I have been looking for him ever since he disappeared a few weeks ago." R's eyes widened as he realized he asked a question he shouldn't have. "Natsu... I am sorry I asked and made you think about it." "It's okay. There's no way you could've known about it," replied the young dragon slayer. Ragna, feeling sorry for Natsu, then proposed an offer. "I'll tell you what. You get some rest, and I will help you search for him." Natsu's mood shifted back to jovial as he showed off his signature smile. "Thanks! There's no way we can't find him now that we are both looking!" The two boys had a small chat on how they were going to find the king of fire dragons until they fell asleep.

R's and Natsu's search had them come across the outskirts of Magnolia. A short man with white hair and a bald spot found the duo as he was taking a walk. "Hello children. Why are you playing out here instead of inside the town?" "We are searching for Natsu's father," replied Ragna. Makarov beamed at the two boys. "Well I guess it wouldn't be that hard to help you!" The old man turned to the dragon slayer. "Natsu, wasn't it? My name is Makarov. What does your father look like?" "My dad's name is Igneel and he is the king of fire dragons!" Makarov looked puzzled. " _His father is a dragon? That can't be right as they have been extinct for a long time, or have they?_ " "Well, since he is a dragon, it would require some time and resources. How would you two like to join my humble little guild?"

"What is a guild? Can I eat it?" wondered the younger boy. "No, a guild is a place where mages gather to take on missions assigned that are posted for all to see," Ragna stated. Makarov affirmed what Ragna said and added what he needed to say. "That's right. They can range from saving a family pet cat to taking out bad guys. You can also do these solo, in a team, or as much as the job requires." Natsu looked really confused as a lot of information was being thrown at him. "Guild... missions... team... not food?" Makarov and Ragna looked at the confused boy as he was trying to process all of this information. "It's okay my boy. You will understand later."

Ragna thought about joining the guild before coming to a decision. "This does sound like a fun experience, so I would like to join!" Natsu heard this and also decided. "Wherever Ragna goes, I will go too! I will also join!" Makarov had a smile on his face that could be said to have reached ear to ear.

"Well I guess that settles that. Before we go, do you two know any magic? It is not required to join, but I figured it's good to know or not." Natsu began to cover himself in flames. "I use fire dragon slayer magic!" "How about you Ragna? Do you use any type of magic?" Ragna stuttered a bit, wondering if he should say anything. He decided to not completely lie, so he told a half truth. "I... also use fire dragon slayer magic." Makarov picked up this fumble and figured that the child would tell him when he was ready. "It's about time I returned back to the guild. Let's go! We need to get your guild marks."

The group of wizards came upon the entrance to Fairy Tail. The boys were amazed at the size of the guild. Makarov kicked open the door smiling and yelling. "WE HAVE NEW MEMBERS, MAKE THEM FEEL WELCOME." All the attention went towards Makarov and the two boys. They were nervous as they didn't know how to react to this situation. That was until Makarov bellowed again. "TIME TO PARTY!" The whole guild seemed to make a complete 180 as everybody was now cheering loudly, singing songs, and drinking booze.

The two boys were amazed at how "humble" and "little" the guild is. It's anything but what Makarov described it to be. "So what do you think about my family?" Natsu seemed to be surprised at what he had said. "YOU HAVE THIS MANY CHILDREN?!" Ragna and Makarov had a little chuckle towards this question. "No, but everyone in Fairy Tail is family to other guild members. Now, it's time to give you your guild insignias. What color do you want and where do you want it?" Natsu was the first to answer. "I want it in red and on my right shoulder." Ragna followed suit. "I want it in black and on my left arm in the same place." Makarov smiled once again. "WELCOME TO FAIRY TAIL!"

The whole guild roared with excitement and partied like there was no tomorrow. The whole guild was enjoying themselves. The two who just joined met with a red haired knight, a white haired demoness with her siblings, and a certain blue-haired stripper whose name is Gray. Natsu didn't take a liking to the latter very much. In fact, he didn't like him at all. The same can be said for the ice magic user. Ragna was enjoying the fight that ensued between the rivals and the short time he had spent being in the guild. He had been looking around and soaking in his surroundings, but he had soon realized a certain brunette was at this guild as well. "Ragna-nii!"

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 **Thanks for reading! If you could review and inform me if the pacing is too slow or too fast, then that would be great. I would also appreciate it if people pointed out errors with spelling, grammar, and things that aren't in canon if there are any. I'm not going to follow the story to the bone in order to make some arcs shorter and others longer, so the small details won't matter as much.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Sorry for the really long wait for the next upload if you read this story from when I first published it. My reason for this is a mix of school, family obligations, and laziness with laziness being the front runner... School work flow is slowing down as of now and I had free time and remembered that I had this I can go back to. I will try to upload at an average of 1 chapter every 2 weeks with 4 being the absolute most for a time limit. This is only a claim now and we will see if I stick to it in the future.**

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"R-nii!" Makarov and the group of kids seemed surprised at what the girl known as Cana said. "I didn't know you already had blood related family at this guild, Ragna." Cana ran up to Ragna and gave him a tight hug. She was excited to see him at the guild she joined. "We aren't related by blood, but that doesn't take away the fact we are close. Cana and her mother found me while I was trying to survive in the wilderness. They offered to shelter me and I stayed to help them with everyday things. I eventually took up the name, Alberona, and this is how we met." Ragna explained to everyone's curiosity.

Natsu hadn't heard this before, but didn't care at the moment as he was still in a deadlock with Gray. "Well at least I'm not a stripper, pervert." Gray got even more annoyed and retorted. "Oh yeah flame brain? I bet you can't even beat me." The feuding boys got in a stance ready to fight once again. R came up behind Natsu with a smile to make anyone feel creeped out. "Naaaaatssuu. You don't want to destroy the guild hall right? I think it's time you stop fighting." The young dragon slayer was now frightened as he experienced this aura from him before. "B...but he started it and-" R coated his fist in fire and rubbed his fist into Natsu's head. The red-haired knight know as Erza also stepped in to scold Gray which effectively ended the fight.

Makarov witnessed this chain of events and nervously smiling. "It's fine that this happened, because it happens all the time here. My kids just love slugging it out at the littlest things." A man with a brown pompadour spoke up. "Macao sure does get heated up at little things." The light blue haired man retorted back with an annoyed expression. "He's clearly talking about you, Wakaba." Macao threw a chair at Wakaba only to miss and hit another mage known as Warren. He retaliated only to miss as well and hit someone else. This has a domino effect as the whole guild was involved in a fight in about a span of a minute.

Erza found her way to Ragna and got curious once again. "If you two were being taken care of by Cana's mother, then why are you guys here?" Ragna was hesitating to tell the rest of the story because Cana was still next to him, but he decided it would be alright. "Well, her mother died of a disease, and I was left to look after her. I woke up one day to find a note explaining her intentions to find her father, although she won't tell me who he is. I roamed once again where I met Natsu. I guess they're alike in a way." Mirajane, the white haired girl, came into the conversation to make Erza feel bad. "Good job wench, you're making Cana feel sad." "It's okay. I'm fine now that Ragna-nii is here." Cana still had a hint of sadness in her voice. "See, you floozy. I didn't do anything wrong!" Erza and Mira were butting heads as visible sparks of electricity could be seen. Gray and Natsu found an opportunity to once again fight as Erza was busy with Mira.

Ragna and Cana decided it was futile as they sat with Makarov at the bar and watched as the whole guild hall was turning into a mess. "So does this happen often?" Makarov took a sip of his ale and sighed. "Yes. It happens quite a lot, unfortunately." He enjoyed days like this, contrary to what he was saying. "They're a bunch of idiots." Cana expressing her distaste with the people in the brawl, but she had a little warmness in her words.

Ragna and Natsu decided to continue their training in the woods a few days after joining Fairy Tail. They managed to find a clearing that is a great distance from Magnolia after searching for a while. "Hey, Ragna. I heard that you had met Cana before me. Are there other things you have done before we met?" The older boy was setting down some food and supplies as they were going to train for a while.

"Let's see. I came across a mansion with some rather nice people. They offered me food and a night's rest before I declined their offer for them to take me in. The lady of the household was suffering from an…illness, one would say. There is also the time where I met a wandering duo somewhere far from here, but that's enough about that though. Get ready, Natsu!"

Ragna charged Natsu which caught him off-guard. **"Ice Make: Hammer"** Ragna placed a fist onto his palm and created a frozen hammer which he brought down upon the pink haired boy. **"Fire Dragon's Fist"** "You are able to use that stripper's magic too? How?" Natsu said in confusion as he reacted in time to stop the attack. "Yeah, but I'll save the explanation for later." Ragna's arm began to grow in size and aimed a punch at the young dragon slayer. "Even old man's magic?! That's unfair!"

The two continued their training until they were physically and mentally unable to. The clearing had considerably grown in size with trees knocked down, charred grass, and frozen spots everywhere. "Hey Ragna, I won right?" said Natsu as he laid down panting near the other. "Yeah, I'd say so. What was that technique you used?" replied Ragna as his clothes were nearly burned off. "What technique? I didn't use anything new against you." _"That feel was definitely something else, like a dragons. I guess he can only use it when under extreme conditions during a battle. I wonder if I would also be able to use it."_

"Well I guess that settles that." The black haired mage got up and walked over to the supplies he brought. "We can officially say that the record is now 82 to 4." He threw a boxed lunch at tired boy. "Yeah! First it's this victory, and then 82 to 100!" Ragna smiled as he sat down next to Natsu as he sat up to eat. "Whatever you say."

The young mages finished their meals and started the trek back to Fairy Tail. When they got there, fellow guild mates launched a barrage of questions at them. "Did you guys hear about a supposed dragon on a rampage outside of the town?" "Are you guys ok?" "You aren't hurt anywhere right?" "Why are you guys covered in injuries?" Natsu sank as he couldn't handle all of this at once. "We are fine. What do you mean dragon?"

Erza came in and scared the members that were crowding the two boys. "There was report of a dragon which destroyed a large part of a forest located on the north of Magnolia." Natsu regained his strength and popped out of his stupor. "A dragon in the north forest? That's where we trained, I think. How come we didn't see a dragon, Ragna?" "Ahh yes. That was us, although we got no sighting of a dragon. It might have been just us having a spar."

The guild began clamoring about how one of them called it being the both of them just training while others telling them to shut up. Makarov only watched again as he just stopped the last impending brawl. _"It seems that Ragna and Natsu have a lot of potential if I recall the magic I felt correctly. They may be able to reach S-Class or even a rank in the Saints very quickly."_ Makarov got up as he walked to the doors of the guild. "I will alert the higher ups that it wasn't a dragon. Behave yourselves while I'm gone." The guild eventually settled down and everybody went home to rest.

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 **I am planning on staying in this pre-story arc for at least 3 more chapters, but I will skip to the main story if I feel that it is unnecessary or I get tired of writing it. I am also planning on writing Natsu to be more logical as Ragna will be watching over him and teaching him on basic things. That doesn't mean that Natsu will be super powerful and smart, but at least smart enough to read the atmosphere and strong enough to be just below Erza. See you guys later for the next chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! I am almost keeping up with the goal of a release every 2 weeks. School is almost over, so you can expect me to pick up the pace as I won't be as busy during the first half of Summer. On another note, I am also going to try and make these stories longer. I have usually been writing around 1500~ words on average, which is short compared to other fanfiction I read, and I'm going to shoot for 2000 minimum. I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

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A few days had passed and the guild received an unexpected visitor. "So this is Fairy Tail! Let's see how it goes." The kid walked in to see Makarov sitting on the bar, Erza and Mira arguing, and Gray arguing with Natsu. He walked up to Makarov while he was finishing his beer. "Hello! My name is Jellal Fernandes and I would like to join this guild." "Okay, where would you like your-" "GUYS, I'M BACK" a black haired mage walked into the guild hall. "Old man, I got that thing you wanted." "Ahh, thanks again, Ragna."

The boy now known as Jellal took notice of black haired boy. "Ragna, is that you? What are you doing here?" It took a while for Ragna to process who this was. He had blue hair and a red mark going down his eye but then realization then hit him. "Jellal? I haven't seen you in forever! I'm a mage at this guild now. I arrived with the boy I mentioned, but he's too busy fighting another kid so I'll introduce you later." Makarov was once again intrigued by Ragna's connections. "So how do you know this person?" Jellal turned to the guild master's direction. "We met while I was traveling. He helped my companion and I while we were in a situation with some bandits. He helped me beat the bandits that were trying to rob us. We stayed and travelled together for a while and eventually split due to him needing to return to somebody. Oh, and I'll need to speak to you later about something important." "If it's important, then why mention you need to talk to me in private with another person right there?" Makarov not understanding the new member. "He already knows, so it shouldn't matter."

 **A/N: I actually don't know where his mark is, so I'll just say he got one. :^)**

Jellal got his guild mark and then headed out with Ragna on a mission before anyone could notice the new member. Ragna turned to Jellal while walking. "So your explanation reminds me of something. Where is that little girl with you, Wendy?" "Well, I thought it was unsafe for a girl her age to travel with me once I felt something relating to that. I dropped her off at a guild called Cait Shelter." Jellal said with a little sadness in his words. "I guess it is okay. We can always just go find and talk to her again. She will be fine."

The two arrived at their destination, a small village just outside of Magnolia. Their mission was to scare off some wild animals that were threatening the village's crop supply. Jellal took a wooden paddle that was attached to his backpack and got ready to fight the beasts. He ran up to the tiger and bashed the cat's left side, effectively staggering it. Ragna followed up Jellal's assault with his own attack. **"Fire Dragon's Roar"** Ragna had blown a stream of fire that hit the tiger which caused it to faint. The boys then moved on to other animals in the pack. Jellal was moving to and fro while avoiding most of their attacks, but he was blindsided as he took a hit to his right side. He managed to fend them off before he fell to the ground due to exhaustion. Ragna had also scared off the rest of the animals, but not before sustaining a slight scratch to his abdomen. He then made it to Jellal's side before using a technique he previously learned. "Oh yeah. I forgot you could use the heal spell that Wendy uses." Jellal felt some relief as the pain started to disappear. "Yeah, but it won't close the wound so let's bandage that up!" Ragna helped Jellal to the village they fended the animals from and received their reward. The residents wrapped Jellal's wound before thanking them once again and sending them off with warm smiles.

The boys were making their way back to Magnolia when Ragna spoke up. "So, this is how missions are. Some can be easy like running an errand, or hard like today." Jellal rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I could've guessed. Thanks for healing me! I was kind of too exhausted to say it before." "It's no problem. Now, where are you going to live? Last I recalled, you were camping and not living in a home. You could live with me in my apartment." Ragna stopped walking to turn to Jellal. "It's quite fine. I don't want to impose on you any more than I have to. With the money we earned today, I can buy an apartment to live in." They both started to walk back again. "Well if you say so."

The two boys made it back to the guild's infirmary as to ensure that Jellal recovered. Makarov had made it clear that only he and Ragna were to be the ones in there with the blue haired boy due to certain complications. The other young mage had walked out into the main guild hall where he sees the usual happening.

"Where did you go, Ragna? Why are you hurt?" The mage known as Mirajane asked. "I was only out on a job and came out with minor injuries. Were you worried about me?" Ragna smirked. "Yeah right. Who would worry about-"

The whole guild silenced at the town announcement. "Magnolia will now change into Gildarts Shift! Residents, please move to the designated areas." "Gildarts Shift? What is that?" "Gildarts Shift is a method of dealing with a problem wizard." Makarov replied to Ragna as he sat on the bar table.

An immense amount of magic power could be felt making its way to the guild. The type of magic being released was something new to Ragna. A hole next to the guild doors had been formed and revealed a tall, and menacing looking man with light brown hair. The whole menacing look was broken when the man looked up and gave an idiotic smile, according to Mirajane, and screamed, "I AM BACK!"

"CAN YOU USE THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON, GILDARTS!?" Makarov yelled at the man. _"Gildarts huh? He looks really strong; I wonder what his magic is."_ Ragna stood as he watched Natsu charge at the man with his fire rearing to go. "MY NAME IS NATSU AND I CHAL-" was all the dragon slayer got out before he was punched into the ground.

"A new challenger?" Gildarts looked around the guild and found some unfamiliar faces with one of them in a crater beneath him. "I'm sorry about Natsu here. He just likes to fight strong people like you." The dragon slayer was being picked up by his dark haired friend. He then set Natsu down on a bench at a table. "But that can also be said about me." "Makarov, these are some brash children. Do you mind if we use the field near here?" Gildarts' magic began to flow around him. "Just don't go around destroying everything, again."

The two were exiting the guild as the guild members who were present began clamoring when they heard that Gildarts was going to spar with a child. Mira was among the first to yell out. "What does this idiot think he's doing? He is totally going to get crushed." "So you _are_ worried about me?" Ragna looked back as he heard her. "I told you I am not!"

The two mages made it to the field and got lowered in their positions. "Who do you think will win, flame brain?" Gray said to Natsu as the dragon slayer woke up and followed the crowd. "It's totally going to be Ragna!" said the pink haired mage as his eyes began to sparkle. "What about you, Cana? Rooting for Ragna as usual?" There was no response as Cana was staring intensely at the two as their magic began to flare.

Ragna's arm began to grow as he sent a punch toward Gildarts. _"The old man's magic? Interesting."_ The older wizard countered with his own punch with a little of his magic as Ragna staggered back while the audience was confused about the giant magic. _"So this is the kind of magic I felt. Let's see how this works."_ The black haired mage closed the gap and landed a right hook into Gildart's abdomen as he was caught off guard by his speed and dropped to his knees. _"That's crash magic! How is he able to use that?"_

The guild members watching were shocked as one of the kid's attacks actually hurt the Ace of Fairy Tail. _"This kid is pretty good."_ Gildarts stood up and started patting some dirt from his clothes. "You know, they say that-" **"Fire Dragon's Lunge"** The crash mage was interrupted by Ragna when he ignited flames from his feet and launched at even faster speeds. **"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist"**

Gildarts simply stepped to the side and prepared to land a fist straight down into the flying mage. **"Absolute Zero"** The ground began to freeze around the two mages in a 10 foot radius while a veil of mist soon followed. The crowd collectively gasped as they also didn't expect this much magic power from a boy who is just nearing 16 years old. "Hey, that totally felt like my magic!" Gray said as he was also spectating. _"He didn't make an object. Does that mean that I'm not limited to just Ice Make?"_

The air cleared to reveal one Ragna panting and one Gildarts encased in ice. The black haired boy began to display his triumphant look, but it didn't last long as the ice began rumbling. There was a bright light and the ice broke into small cubes while the man who was in the ice swiftly delivered a chop to the boy's back which rendered him unconscious. "Man he is powerful, but untrained. I might have to show him a thing or two."

Gildarts then picked Ragna up and began walking to the guild. "That sure worked up an appetite, time to go eat!" He exclaimed. The onlookers remained standing still as they had never seen an anticlimactic ending when the whole fight was awe inspiring. "That was it?" "The way that ended sucked." "Why couldn't they just throw huge spells at each other?" They then all gave up and followed Gildarts back.

The crash mage laid Ragna into one of the infirmary's beds and then proceeded to talk with Makarov. "Where did you find these kids? One of them has fire that actually singed me, and the other just fought on almost the level of a saint." "They kind of just walked in one day and asked to join. I guess Ragna can be included in this year's S-Class Promotion Trial if you think he nears a saint." Makarov took a sip of tea. "Yeah, I can definitely agree to that, but I would like to train him before that time. I'm going to take him on a mid S-Class mission and estimate that it would take at most 3 months. If he doesn't agree to come with me, I will take him by force anyways. Oh, and just a small question. What magic does the kid use?" Makarov spit out his drink as soon as he heard the plan. "What!? I find it hard to agree to that but if he is under your guidance and is really powerful, then I would make an exception this time. As to the magic that Ragna uses, I would have to say he can copy the magic of anything he encounters through physical contact or digesting it. I wouldn't know a lot, so you can get to know what it is during the mission."

Gildarts began smiling at the thought of having his "own little slav- I mean apprentice" as he put it. "We will leave tomorrow morning then since his injuries are light. I've also been meaning to ask, but who is the other kid?" Gildarts questioned as he motioned a hand at Jellal who was just getting up and joining the conversation. Makrov explained the situation about his circumstances with the boy in question's add-ons.

"Ahh, so that's how it is. Hey old man, do you mind if I take this kid too?" The crash mage was excited at the idea of 2 apprentices. "We are already crossing dangerous waters with you and Ragna. Why not add more danger to it?" Makarov reluctantly agreed. "Thanks Gildarts! I can't wait to get stronger!" "I like your energy, but you can take Ragna to his apartment and spend the night there until tomorrow comes. Oh, and tell him about what we plan to do when you get there so he has time to get his things." The three finished their discussion and then proceeded to carry on with their night.

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 **There are going to be a few directions that I am taking this story. The first one is that I am going to have gray not only use Ice Make magic because I think that there is a lot more that a mage can do than make objects. The second one is that Ragna will be pretty powerful, but not to where he can go even with Gildarts when I start the main story. The final one for now is that Ragna will be able to create unique moves from the magic he gains. An example would be "Fire Dragon's Lunge" and "Absolute Zero" which he got from Natsu's and Gray's magic respectively.**

 **See you guys later!**


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